FIELD BOOK OF MAMMALS 



external characters; pelage fairly long and heavy, especially so 

 •n winter; tail large and bushy; easily identified by yapping 

 howl. 



Color. — Sexes colored very much alike; some seasonal 

 variation. 



Upperparts. — Coarsely grizzled buffy, grayish, and black; 

 yellowish on muzzle, ears, and outer sides of legs; grizzled gray 

 on top of head; tail above like back, below whitish near base, 

 then pale yellowish, tip black. 



Underparts. — Whitish, throat with some black hairs. 

 Immature pelage duller and grayer than adult. 

 Measurements. — Males noticeably larger than females. 

 Total length, females, 49 inches; tail vertebrae, 16 inches; hind 

 foot, 7.2 inches; weight of males, 35-40 pounds. 



Geographical Distribution. — Western North America. 

 Food.— Small mammals, birds, Hzards, snakes, insects, 

 fruit, carrion. 



Enemies. — Speed and wariness ordinarily save the Coyote 

 from the large carnivores which would prey on it if they could. 

 The Gray Wolf, Golden Eagle, and Great Horned Owl catch 

 young Coyotes. 



Species and Subspecies of the Genus Canis 

 Subgenus Thos 



This subgenus contains the small Prairie Wolves or Coyotes. 

 "The pattern of coloration is the same in all the Coyotes. 

 Except in the pale desert forms {pallidus and estor), in which 

 the fulvous tints are replaced by buff, the muzzle, backs of 

 the ears, outerside (sometimes the whole) of the fore and 

 hind feet and legs, and distal half of the underside of the 

 tail are some shade of fulvous. The ground color of the back 

 also varies from buff, or even buffy-white in the desert forms, 

 to dull fulvous in the animal from southern Mexico, and the 

 abundance of black-tipped hairs is usually proportionate to 

 the intensity of the ground color. The upperside of the tail 

 is like the back, and about one-third the distance from root 

 to tip it is marked by an elongated black spot. The tip^ is 

 always black, although it sometimes contains a tuft of white 

 hairs, most often present in C. ochropus. The males are de- 

 cidedly larger than the females." (Merriam) 



150 



